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Tuesday, 28 May 2013

"Blunt trauma". The Brass are an interesting band, to say the least. I can't really find a ton of information on them, but it seems like they were from somewhere in New York (most likely Long Island, it seems), and they formed in 2008 and broke up in 2010. They put out three things in that time, all of which absolutely destroy. They incorporate all the great elements of screamo, post-hardcore, emo, hardcore, punk, what have you, into one hell of a force. Their intricate, duelling guitar leads are mixed with interesting chord choices, and complemented by some technical drumming. They're dynamic in their volume, in their melodies, in their structures, in practically everything. They keep each song and each second very engaging, and are overall simply awesome. I don't know what else to say about them at this point. These guys are a really good band who are way too underrated, so check them out. Apparently they have ex-members of On The Might Of Princes and Latterman among others, so that should tell you all you need to know about how great they are.

Antioch Arrow were a post-hardcore/screamo band from San Diego, California that existed from 1993-1994. Despite their brief tenure, they were seminal in the development of their respective genres and in establishing the San Diego/Gravity Records scene as a point of notoriety. Regardless of their widely-heralded music and influence, no band has ever come again that's quite like them. I suppose they're one of those bands that just can't be recreated or replicated, and as corny as it may sound, are truly unique. Personally, I can always go back to them and never cease to be in complete awe of what they've done, in every respect. For that, they're probably one of my favourite bands ever.

They were pretty productive for a band that lasted for just over a year, and the evolution in their sound is quite apparent from album to album. At the beginning of their career, they featured a fast-paced sound with an aggression harkening back to the Washington, DC/Dischord bands of the early 80's, mixed with the angular, octave-savviness of later bands such as Nation Of Ulysses, Fugazi, and Lungfish. They brought that sound to a new extremity where everything was just intensified, becoming more noisy, dissonant, and chaotic. Essentially what it resulted in was psychotic poetry readings screamed over jazz grooves whacked on on some drug that doesn't even have a street name. Every instrument just seems to be falling over the other, but they're still cohesive enough to distinguish different parts and different songs. The vocals are equally sprawling, not forming any real melody, but fitting into a groove with a spoken-screamed style, which matches the abstract lyrics perfectly. Aaron (the vocalist) also has a very unique voice with qualities unlike anyone else. The bass (Mac Mann) is also quite noteworthy, since it is often just as prominent and driving as the rest of the band, and switches from being very dissonant to melodic to just straight-up energetic. This sound is explored and delved further into with each of their first three albums. Their final album, released posthumously, does continue what they'd been doing, but they adopt a whole other side of goth-y post-punk influence with really haunting pianos or something, and the aesthetic of the artwork. The also play a little cleaner, with the words also being fairly decipherable and the band are a bit tighter. The change in sound is absolutely astounding, and they remain just as insane-sounding as always.

Band submission. Sonsett are a five-piece alternative/emo band from Nashville, Tennessee that formed in 2010. They kind of remind me of a hybrid between Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate), Prawn, Balance And Composure, and Dikembe, or something. Basically they're really good. Their newest EP, Days Wasted, tastefully uses reverb which when matched with the artwork and tone of the songs, creates an atmosphere unique to this album. It also features some nice, melodic guitar parts that entwine and compliment each other. The bass fills up the low end nicely, and the drums are spot-on. The vocals are also great, since they're soft, but still come off as being powerful. Overall this is a great EP that you should definitely check out if you're fans of the bands previously mentioned or at least ones similar to them. They've also got a few other releases on their Bandcamp if you want to check those out too.

Band submission. ISIYM are from Melbourne, Australia, and they completely blew me away. Listening through their EP Pineapple Head through for the first time left me in complete awe. It's really refreshing to hear something that really pushes the boundaries of labels and conventions. The entire time they kept pulling out new ideas that kept things very interesting and engaging, with this constant sense of anticipation as to what they were going to do next. They'd go from guttural hardcore vocals to Beach Boys-esque harmonies, and incorporate elements of various genres including garage rock, post-hardcore, alternative rock, and post-punk. I suppose at their core they are a punk band, since they consistently deliver a very raw and energetic quality to every song. They go all out with that at some points, and other times fuse it with some very poppy and melodic sensibilities. Sometimes songs include both of these aspects. Their diversity is astounding, but their ability to execute these different dynamics is also done excellently. Their isn't any point on here that I feel like I'm listening to a different band or that they're forcing a part into their sound. It's all natural, and all awesome. I was kind of reminded of The Men (not that the two sound very much alike) because of this, since they're rooted in punk but are able to integrate many other sounds into the mix to keep things distinct and interesting. I would highly, highly recommend anybody checking this out. Seriously. You can download or buy it from their Bandcamp.

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Label-submitted. Check it out, these guys are a really cool, really heavy hardcore band that kind of reminds me of Cursed. "Reproacher from Cheyenne, WY has a new album coming out June 11th via Foreign Room Records. They will also be embarking on a 40 city tour with Primitive Man in July. The album "Nothing To Save" is available for preorder now here: http://www.foreignroomrecords.com/""This is Foreign Room's first release. Several more will be announced in the next few weeks."

Monday, 20 May 2013

So, Jeromes Dream are a legendary three-piece screamo/emo violence/hardcore band from Connecticut whose tenure lasted from 1997 to 2001. In this span of time, they managed to become a first-tier essential of their respective genre (along with Orchid, Saetia, pg.99, etc.), in my opinion.

Their sound is one of the most unique and intriguing I can think of, not only in their own niche of music, but in general as well. They created a wall of feedback with a flurry of heavy dissonance, essentially creating a hellish nightmare in which you're being punched and pulverized over and over again and having your body being thrashed around without mercy or direction. Even among these spastic fits, the band seems to always be able to take control of their music. They often incorporated moments of syncopation, which exemplified the tightness that these three individuals had. They also often create an opposing dynamic, but playing very quiet parts centred around a guitar melody or something of the sort. They also included some elements of experimentation, such as using samples in some of their songs. Their vocals also changed after their singer damaged his vocal cords. This new voice was like a hybrid between talking and singing, a style used by numerous bands now. They also filtered the vocals through some kind of effect to make them even more unique and distinguishable.

They've also gained some notoriety for their operations as a band. For one, their live sets were incredibly short, which lasted for only about 10 minutes. They also refrained from using a microphone. Instead, their vocalist/bassist Jeff Smith would just scream at the top of his lungs.

This is their official discography compilation, put out by Alone Records. It's the only release by them that's still in print. It includes everything they've ever done. They put out numerous splits as well as two LP's, all of which are on here and more. I don't have most of these individual releases, so their artwork and the bands on the other sides of their splits aren't here. However, if someone does know where to find all of them, it would be much appreciated if you were to share it. There's also a great interview with drummer Erik Ratensperger if you want to know more about the band, which can be found here. Enjoy.

Saturday, 18 May 2013

leer. are a five-piece screamo/post-hardcore band from San Jose, California. They play a great style of screamo, which can be compared to some of the bands below, but I think they can still hold their own. The guitars are only lightly overdriven and tinted with reverb, but played passionately, giving them that blend of clean melody and urgent chaos, which is also reflected in the bass and drums. They seem to be very tight as a band, with everyone playing off of each other, if that makes sense. They incorporate many noodle-y/math-y aspects into their sound as well. The vocals are also sprawling. They're fairly clean for a screamo band, but still possess the intense emotional edge that one would expect from a band within this genre. The vocals are sometimes spoken, sometimes almost sung, and sometimes crack and break out into a yelp, which adds a whole other dynamic to their music. I really dig this band, and perhaps the best part is that their songs don't sound repetitive or tiring. Each song is distinguishable from the next, which makes both releases definitely worth listening to. Enjoy.

Sunday, 12 May 2013

Gnarwolves are a sick three-piece gruff pop punk band from Brighton, Cornwall. These guys are just fun as hell to listen, and play a really engaging style of pop punk. They're easily one of my favourites around now, at least. They started in 2011, and have two EP's to their name so far (I prefer Fun Club, but they're both great). I would seriously recommend them if you're into hella fun party jams that are well-written and well-played.

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Band-submitted. Elevator Talk are a four-piece band from Melbourne, Australia. Their style of music is very akin to that of This Town Needs Guns, particularly their early stuff. The guitar parts are very complex and intricate, as is expected from a math rock band, but also melodic, much like the American Football/Owls-influenced component of TTNG. Elevator Talk does sound a lot like them, but they execute this sound so well that I don't ever get the sense that they're a gimmicky rip-off or anything of that sort. They pull it off amazingly well, I think, and everything is just spot-on. The vocals are also of particular note. They are female-fronted, and their singer brings a very unique aspect to the mix with her voice. It's very gentle and melodic as you would expect, but the actual tone of it is quite unique. There's a certain quality to it that I found somewhat unexpected for this style of music (perhaps because I immediately thought of the football, etc. singer and was kind of caught off guard, for whatever reason) but somewhat fits so exquisitely. It's deeper, I guess you could say, but not necessarily low. There's still a very feminine characteristic to it, but it sounds very full as well. Her voice also takes more influence from the indie aspect of things than the emo side, which I think has adds a whole other dynamic to the band's music that compliments it perfectly. This is a great EP, and I'm personally loving it. I would definitely and highly recommend checking it out, especially if you're into TTNG (in case you somehow didn't get that already, aha).

Monday, 6 May 2013

Snowing were a four-piece emo/punk band that existed from 2008 to 2011, and were from Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. They kind of formed from members of two other bands, which were Street Smart Cyclist and Boyfriends. Snowing went on to become one of the most seminal and well-known bands (others would include Algernon Cadwallader, Grown Ups, Hightide Hotel, or whoever) in this emo revival movement, or whatever you want to call it, that's been going on in the Midwest.

They are often associated with the "noodly", or "twinkly", brand of emo that has kind of taken off in recent years. Basically, they've got a whole lot of Cap'n Jazz worship going on. The guitars are kind of math-y, since they play complex and intricate parts, but are very melodic and dynamic, and so are the vocals. John can be very aggressive and almost scream-y, but can also be softer and quieter. He's also got a very distinct voice, regardless of how he's using it. He's also an excellent lyricist. The whole band just works so well together, I don't know what else needs to be said. There are very few bands that have so much to offer in every aspect of their music, and I think Snowing are one of the few that do, despite their very minimal quantity in output. I could ramble on about how amazing they are, or analyse every minuscule detail about them, but I'm kind of thinking now that that would simply be unnecessary. These guys mean so much to so many people who have experienced them, myself included. I firmly believe that they are one of the best bands in recent history, and easily one of the best in their respective niche of genre. This probably makes them sound really serious, which is stupid since that's practically the exact opposite of what they are. I love them, you love them, so let's just jam them. Oh, and John Galm has got a new band going now called Slow Warm Death. Thanks to Anonymous for the request.

A Stubborn Reminder...

Please remember, not everything on here is supposed to be free. Enjoy to your heart's content, but if you can, please try and support these bands by purchasing records, going to shows, buying merch, anything if at all possible. Most of them could really use (and deserve) it.